Someone asked me to explain my prayer request for that expensive laptop. First, a link to the machine in question. Primary advantage: Nobody has to worry about whether Linux can be installed and run on this thing; it comes with Ubuntu. I will never use Windows again, that’s for sure.

Dell does offer other machines with Linux, some cheaper. This one is future-proof, in that it has some of the most advanced technology available. Even better, this model has a long history of working exceptionally well, highly reliable as testified by numerous Linux users. It’s about as light as they come, and the 13″ size is the perfect trade-off between portability and big enough to get things done. (My little 10″ netbook didn’t have enough screen real estate to be very useful, so it’s death didn’t make me cry.) This thing can run future versions of Linux for quite some years to come.

Look, I’m not trying to collect new and fancy toys. I was content with what I had and praying that the aging tower and my current laptop would keep working. But as I was praying also about how to keep this blog running another nine years, as Jay has enthused, the Lord said to me, “Ask Me for new hardware.” You don’t have to participate in this blessing, but I’m convinced God has some plans here. I took a look at Chromebooks, but they aren’t tuned to writers. So after rejecting that, I cast about for something that would fit my needs better, and the XPS 13 is what caught my eye. I’ll be funneling toward it all the donations I receive from my computer tech support ministry.

So once again: This is not a fund-raiser, just a prayer request. We have all the time in the world, but this speaks of things to come and how God will be at work in my life and on this blog.

Quite so, Jay. The hardware doesn’t excite me; I keep having this deep thrumming sense that there is something large and yet unseen behind all this. My heart tells me that big thing is going to be very exciting.